Thursday, May 8, 2008

The Microsoft-Google Competition Going Forward

They are the company that is going to have more influence and more control over the structure of the world information industry than any other. The right way to think about Google is they are the next Microsoft.

-David B. Yoffie, Professor, Harvard Business School

Yoffie was responding to questions about the competitive environment that Microsoft confronts, particularly in view of its inability, so far, to purchase Yahoo. Articles in the wake of collapsed deal noted various observers' understandings of the media world going forward and Microsoft's options within it. Some wonder whether it is in Microsoft's best interest to pursue online advertising in the ways Google is doing. They suggest that Microsoft might best compete by providing firms with the networks and techologies to post ads across a variety of platforms. Observers also note Google's complex and shrewd role in scuttling the Microsoft-Yahoo deal.

In Miguel Helft, "Google Ends Microsoft’s Yahoo Search," New York Times, May 6, 2008.

See also Peter Whorisky, "Failed Yahoo talks Leaves Google on Top," Washington Post, May 6, 2008; and Elizabeth Montalbano, "Microsoft Should Sideline Search, Focus on Strengths," The Industry Standard, May 5, 2008.

No comments: